BMO Bank employees recently donated $7,500 and helped assemble personal hygiene bags for the College of DuPage Fuel Pantry as part of a larger donation to help local communities.

During two recent campus visits, BMO employees helped organize over 400 toiletry bags. Each one contained shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, deodorant, lotion and a tag with an encouraging “We See You” message.

“SNAP cannot be used for toiletries, so there is a tremendous need for these at food pantries,” COD Fuel Pantry Advisor Linda Kozlowski said. “We typically only receive travel-size items as donations, so having a family-size package of the items was much appreciated by the clients.”

BMO employees also labeled more than 800 granola bars with the Fuel Pantry logo and a QR code to register for the pantry. Rachel McKay, coordinator of events for Institutional Advancement, said partnerships like this one benefit both students and the community.

“We are deeply grateful to BMO for their generous contributions and their commitment to serving our students beyond the monetary donation,” she said. “Their team’s hands-on involvement in assembling toiletry kits demonstrates what true community partnership looks like—investing both resources and time to ensure our students have the essentials they need to thrive. We truly valued their visits and look forward to strengthening our partnership with BMO in the years ahead.”

Kozlowski said COD believes that access to food and other supplies is essential to academic success. All the toiletry bags were distributed to Fuel Pantry clients within three weeks.

“The most common question was, ‘Do I get to take the whole thing?’” she said. “Clients thought maybe they could only take one item from the bag, so they were thrilled to learn that the entire bag of toiletries was for them.”

The Fuel Pantry provides free food and personal care items to all currently enrolled students, staff and faculty with a self-identified need. The pantry accepts donations year-round and has a list of high demand items here. Monetary donations can be made through the COD Foundation at foundation.cod.edu.

Read more about the Fuel Pantry at College of DuPage.